Wordy Wednesday - Omaha, Nebraska May, 1948

Click on the images to see a larger view.

This photo is interesting to me for a number of reasons. The unusual PFE painting arrangement on the -16 rebuild is one, but the other is that as an early 1950s modeler, I am on the lookout for 36' box cars that I can credibly include in my fleet; this photo shows two such candidates. The photo was recorded by Lee Russell for the CB&Q in May, 1948 in Omaha. The Rock Island freight terminal is visible, as well as the Bekins warehouse, among other structures. A couple of Rock Island truck trailers can be picked out flanking the PFE R-30-9 reefer in the background. Photo from the Newberry Library

PFE - R-30/40-16 - With 3,554 cars (nos. 73001-76554) the -16 rebuilds were the second largest group of PFE rebuilds, after the -9 classes. They employed Murphy solid steel roofs (with rectangular panels, as shown here) and retained wood ends. The extremely interesting detail in this photo is the 1946 style UP medallion by itself on the car side. According to PFE painting specifications, this style of medallion was always to be paired with an SP medallion, with both on each side of the car. This is a highly unusual, if not unique, application. HO scale models of the -16 rebuilds were offered in resin by Sunshine Models as well as styrene by Pacific Freight Enterprises

PFE R-30-24 67179 - the final group of rebuilds of the late 1930s and 40s were the -24 classes. They were unusual for the use of 'Harborite' exterior plywood sheathing (some other rebuilds of the era used this as well, notably many -9s refurbished during the same late 1940s period.) There were 2,610 -24s in total (nos. 65921-68532.) They were the only rebuilds to use Improved Dreadnaught ends and the last cars also received diagonal panel Murphy roofs. Preco FG-41 or FK-2 mechanical fans were installed, as well. Almost all of the -24 rebuilds used "built-up" 30-or 40-ton underframes, as the vast majority of the Bettendorf underframe cars were rebuilt in earlier classes. HO scale models were offered in resin by Sunshine and the MTH PFE reefer, while decorated as a steel car, closely resembles a -24.

WP 20529 - Western Pacific received 350 Modified AAR box cars from Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Co. in 1945, nos. 20201-20550. They had Youngstown Steel doors, Apex Tri-Lok running boards, Barber S-2 (20201-20350) or ASF A-3 Ride Control (20351-20550) trucks, and Royal Type F brake regulators. The placard boards were lowered fairly quickly, as illustrated by the one shown on the door of WP 20529 above. Sunshine Models offered resin kits and Intermountain has styrene versions of these cars.

UP 79420 - B-50-6 The Union Pacific and Southern Pacific both rostered large fleets of double sheathed box cars constructed to a (mostly) standard design. The UP purchased over 7,500 cars from various builders, constructed between late 1910 and 1913. The UP cars were interesting as the UP rebuilt many cars with Murphy or Dreadnaught ends, extending the service lives of many through World War Two. Thereafter, numbers dropped significantly, with most gone by 1949 and none in revenue service in 1953. UP 79420 is a B-50-6 with Dreadnaught ends, still in service in May, 1948 and adorned with the 'Road of the Streamliners' and 'Serves all the West' scheme. Westerfield offers HO scale resin kits to build all known variants of these numerous cars.

D&H 24062 - These cars were profiled in a previous post. Since that posting, I have located the article from the November and December, 1987 issues of Railroad Model Craftsman.

CN 523497 - This cars was one of the over 16,000 postwar AAR-design box cars purchased by the CN between 1947 and 1957. CN 523497 was from a 1,500 car order (nos. 522500-523999) from Canadian Car & Foundry delivered in 1948. They featured pre-War Youngstown steel doors, 4/4 Improved Dreadnaught ends with a shorter top rib, Murphy rectangular panel roofs, Barber S-2 spring plankless Stabilized trucks, Ajax power hand brakes, and 8-rung ladders with integral sill steps on both sides and ends. Intermountain has produced the correct end in styrene, as well as Speedwitch in several mini-kits (Erie and P&WV postwar AAR box cars.)

L&N 11147 - Louisville & Nashville rostered a large fleet of 36' double sheathed box cars during the Steam Era. L&N 11147 was part of a group of 500 cars built in 1923 by Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Co., nos. 11000-11499. Sunshine offered HO scale kits for some cars and there have been articles over the years about kitbashing models, usually beginning with the MDC model as a starting point. There is another HO scale resin offering in the works.

ATSF 272464 - Bx-46 (272000-272977, 978 cars) rebuilt in 1945 from Santa Fe's ARA-design double sheathed box cars in classes Bx-9 and -10. There were also rebuilds in classes Bx-41 (270000-270134, 134 cars; from Bx-8), Bx-42 (270500-271033, 534 cars; Bx-9/-10), Bx-45 (271600-271949, 350 cars; Bx-8), and Bx-49 (272978-273914, 937 cars; Bx-9/-10). The Bx-49 cars were different in that they employed postwar 'Improved' Dreadnaught ends.

UP B-50-20 - The UP converted 886 of the A-50-6 class automobile cars to box cars in 1934-1935 (500 cars, nos. 350000-350499) and in 1940 (386 cars, nos. 350500-350885). The cars were distinctive for their size and single sheathed style structural members, but with steel where wood boards were normally used. Westerfield offers HO scale resin kits to replicate these distinctive cars.

Wordy Wednesday - PFE R-30-12 & -13 Grab Irons

PFE 21919 with with five straight grab irons above the side sill at right edge of the car side, built Feb. 1923 straight grab irons at right edge of the car side, built Feb. 1923, reconditioned July 1938, courtesy of Bill Welch

The PFE R-30-12 and -13 reefers were incredibly numerous (11,900 -12s and 7,654 -13s plus 2,775 Western Pacific cars built to the -13 design*) and I've even written about them, but it was not until yesterday that I became aware of the fact that they had different numbers of grab irons depending upon when built. Granted, I had never looked that closely since I do not need any in my model fleet. Nonetheless, it's an interesting detail that I had not seen profiled. Credit goes primarily to Al Hoffman for spotting the trend and Ed Hawkins for digging into details with Al.

PFE (WP) 51340, also with five straight grab irons above the side sill at right edge of the car side, built July 1923, Rosedale, Kansas, Joe Collias Collection

The Western Pacific contributed 2,775 cars to the PFE fleet, including PFE 51340 shown above, with with five straight grab irons above the side sill at right edge of the car side.

PFE 36430, an R-30-13, built July 1926, with six straight grab irons above the side sill at right edge of the car side. Michael Urac Collection

Beginning with cars built ca. 1924, an extra grab iron was added at the right edge of the car side. It is an interesting change that the model manufacturers have not incorporated into their offerings. They have (understandably) hewed to one or the other number of grabs, but not both. Red Caboose, chose six, as shown below, on the factory lettered PFE 26219 as modeled by me over a decade ago. Yet another detail to be considered... informed is forewarned, especially for you 1920s to mid-1940s modelers!

*Pacific Fruit Express (Thompson, Church, Jones, Signature Press) makes reference to some number of the cars being built to the -12 design, which is certainly plausible, but to my knowledge, no photo documentation of such cars has surfaced for review.

Wordy Wednesday - Santa Fe Composite Gondola Ga-22 ATSF 175218

Col. Chet McCoid photo, San Diego, California, November 6, 1955, Bob's Photo

Like many Western roads, the Santa Fe had a large fleet of GS gondolas with drop doors that could haul loose aggregate materials as well as "standard" gondola loads. The Santa Fe had 11,000 Caswell gons built between 1906 and 1926 as well as 300 taller Caswell gons added in 1927. In 1929 and 1930, the Santa Fe added an additional 875 composite GS gons total in three classes. The GA-20 (nos. 170600-170849) and GA-26 (nos. 169000-169199) were 50' cars from Standard Steel, while the GA-22 class (nos. 175150-175574) was comprised of 40' cars from AC&F. They all used corrugated drop doors with Wine door locks.

ATSF 175218, a GA-22, effectively illustrates the wear and tear that gons absorbed, especially composite ones. Note the damage to the wood as well as the dings in the steel on the sides.

HO scale modelers were fortunate to have resin kits available for these cars from Sunshine Models. I have a model for a 50-footer that I will build and chronicle here in the near future.

Wordy Wednesday - Delaware & Hudson 36-foot Double Sheathed Box Car D&H 23659

Al Armitage photo, late 1940s

Delaware & Hudson 23659 is highlighted in “Wordy Wednesday” for several reasons. Foremost, it is an extremely interesting car. For modelers of the postwar era into the 1950s, finding 36-foot box cars to model is always a challenge (I will present a subsequent post covering a roster of some of my favorite early 1950s 36-foot box car modeling possibilities). When the Canadian Fowler patent single sheathed cars are excepted, the field of 36-foot candidates shrinks markedly, particularly for West Coast modelers. These D&H cars are suitable subjects for modeling, as many were still around in the early 1950s.

The prototypes were acquired in 1907, 2,800 cars in total. They were progressively rebuilt between 1924 and 1936. Improvements included Hutchins Dry Lading roofs, new ends (indented Hutchins) or refurbishing of the composite or facsimiles of the ‘Indestructible’ ends, replacement trucks, AB schedule brakes (eventually), Ajax power hand brakes to most cars, if not all, and Wine ladders. 

The other main reason for profiling these cars is that they are unusual prototypes, but would not be extremely difficult to replicate through judicious use of kitbashing and/or scratchbuilding. One could either scratchbash the models using an Accurail 1300 or 1700-series car as the starting point* or scratchbuild most of the model. Either means would yield an attractive result.

My plan is to model one of the cars following the latter approach. I will scratchbuild most components, fabricating the sides, ends (‘Indestructible’ as shown in the photo), and underframe and use a spare resin casting of a Hutchins Dry Lading roof. I will chronicle my efforts for publication in some medium. Decals will be made available for those wishing to collaborate virtually.

*I seem to remember that years ago John Nehrich kitbashed at least one of these cars using an MDC model as the starting point. I have a copy of the article somewhere and once I locate it, I will publish a separate post with the details. I think it was in Railroad Model Craftsman and I believe it included drawings, likely from the late Chuck Yungkurth.

Wordy Wednesday - Baltimore & Ohio 1937 AAR Box Car M-55A B&O 465885

San Diego, California, December 26, 1954, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo

In 1942, the Baltimore & Ohio added 900 class M-55A box cars that hewed to the 1937 AAR design, but liberally took advantage of the ability to choose specialties including ends, roof, and underframe. The sides were the typical riveted ten-panel sides of the 1937 AAR design. The B&O opted for Carbuilder's (the generic term for a builder's proprietary-design doors, ends, roofs, etc.) ends and roofs. These specialties were Pullman-inspired as the cars were constructed by Pullman-Standard. As was a de facto standard for the B&O in that era, the cars were equipped with the Duryea Cushion underframe.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, 1943, FSA-OWI Collection, Library of Congress

The flat, riveted roof possessed a distinguishing "step" between the last roof end panels and the adjacent panels, as can be seen here. The end ribs were roughly triangular in cross-section, with a taper near the end corners, with the last bits of the ribs following the radius of the corner.

The top photo is another of my favorites from Col. Chet McCoid. It was recorded either very early or late in the day when the low light angle provided excellent and even coverage of the surface details. This car had not been repainted since it was built, so it has a dozen years of service reflected on its surface. Of note are the rather low crossbearers of the Duryea Cushion underframe and the XLT (or Tatum) slack adjuster, the rectangular appendage to the right of the AB brake reservoirs. John Tatum was a B&O employee and prolific inventor with many patents for railroad-related appliances, including this slack adjusting device. There is an article about the adjusters in Volume 44 of The B&O Modeler, including how to model these devices that were common to many B&O freight cars.

Wordy Wednesday - New York Central PS-1 NYC 169664

This photo of NYC 169664 seemed vaguely familiar to me when I looked at it a couple of days ago. Strip the paint, change the hand brake to a Miner hand brake, and then repaint it like Lake Superior & Ishpeming PS-1 LS&I 2242 that I profiled on this blog a few days ago and you would have the same car. They used the same New York Central-style placard boards, including their locations, the same welded-on roping loops, and the same arrangement of the lower corners, including push pole pockets, side sill angle sections, and "un-PS-1-like" uncoupling devices. So, as I modify my Kadee model of LS&I 2236, most or all of those changes apply to NYC 169000-170499 specifically depending upon the doors, as well as to NYC 170500-172499. The cars in the 169000 series were essentially from the same Pullman-Standard lot, 5965 for NYC 169000-170499 and 5965A for LS&I 2226-2275. Details for the NYC cars are noted below. If the 50 cars of the LS&I are a little too obscure for your tastes, perhaps the 3,500 built for the New York Central in 1950-1951 are more to your liking.

Note the New York Central paint data triangle at lower left of car side on NYC 170750. This is the earliest instance this blog author has seen of the paint data triangle in use. This car was built in February, 1951

Between 1950 and 1951 the New York Central received 3,500 40' PS-1 box cars from Pullman-Standard. The details are as follows:

*7-panel Superior door with third panel from top wider than other panels

There were also 1,000 cars delivered in 1948 and 500 cars delivered in 1952. These are each different and not covered in the data presented above.

Wordy Wednesday - Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Postwar AAR Box Car CMO 37836

In 1945, Chicago and North Western subsidiary Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha purchased 400 AAR-design box cars of the postwar iteration from American Car & Foundry. The cars were assigned to series 37500-38298, even numbers. At first blush, the cars hewed closely to the design, with 10-panel riveted sides, Murphy rectangular panel roofs, 4/4 Improved Dreadnaught ends, and Youngstown corrugated (first 200 cars, shown here) or Superior panel steel doors (last 200 cars) and riding on ASF A-3 Ride Control trucks. Their most distinguishing characteristic was the Duryea Cushion underframe, with deep crossbearers that are visible in this photo, and Universal brake adjuster, a portion of which is also visible just to the right of the AB valve. However, the most interesting detail to me is the extreme compression of the truck springs (see below), no doubt due to a heavy load. It’s not something one sees often, let alone notices.

The photo is yet another low-angle, late-in-the-day flat light gem from Col. Chet McCoid that quite literally sheds light on so many details. Also note the gas storage tanks at both left and right. San Diego, California, November 19, 1954, Bob’s Photo

Wordy Wednesday - Shell Filling Station

Shasta County, California. Filling stations close up as the tourist trade decreases, June, 1942, Lee Russell

As I begin my preparations for construction of a modest switching layout, I have been taking increased note of things that will be valuable references. It is little surprise that anything that will aid in my construction and detailing of structures and the scenes in which they’ll reside gets attention. I stumbled across this photo on the FSA-OWI photo site hosted by the Library of Congress. It is a defunct filling station in northern California (extreme northern, relatively close to Oregon, where I am modeling). Granted, the gasoline sales portion of the station and the accompanying equipment appeared to have been removed by the time this photo was recorded in 1942. Note that in the background at left is what to all appearances is a functioning gas station.

Nonetheless, there is still a great deal to be gleaned from this photo. Architecturally, the photo illustrates a large portion of the structure of the overhang that sheltered patrons while pumping gas. Details include the embellishments at the junctions of the roof line, support post beams and other areas. These were not only attractive features, but also served to tie together and strengthen the structure at critical points. As was quite common, the roof line of the shelter (and the shelter itself) was oriented to bisect the 90-degree angle created by the intersection of the streets.

Details abound. The large SHELL sign atop the shelter would be a great touch to add to a model, including the support wires, extending to the roof eaves. The Quaker State lube service sign is another add-on to accent the scene. Finally, while every window in this scene has one, likely due to the “hibernation” of the station’s gas dispensing operations, the signs promoting the Russell Bros. Circus in Redding (California) on June 27 are a great detail that adds “life” to this scene, and could be similarly replicated on a model, albeit in maybe one or two signs.

The great thing is that there are numerous commercially available 1920s vintage gas station kits that follow this general design, but that could be easily and minimally modified using a photo such as this one to make it “one’s own” so that visitors to the layout will appreciate its uniqueness rather than mentally noting that the gas station is the same one seen on many layouts. 

Wordy Wednesday - Union Starch & Refining - General American 1917-design Tank Car GATX 6719

Bob's Photo

General American 6719 is an interesting study. It was a General American 1917-design tank car built in January, 1921. It features many of the traits typical of the design, most notable the five “radial” courses to the tank. However, this car is different since it was modified to incorporate several changes. As expected, it was equipped with AB-schedule air brakes, replacing the KC-schedule brakes. Additionally, the expansion dome was fitted with a replacement safety manway and frangible disc vent. There is what may be a fitting or plug on the side of the dome. There are also what appear to be two patches, either as repairs or to strengthen parts of the bottom sheet of the tank. Finally, there was a chalkmark on the side of the tank noting, “syrup” which was undoubtedly a common load given that the car was leased by Union Starch & Refining, a producer of corn products, including corn syrup.

This car could be converted from a Tangent model using a safety manway from another manufacturer (Tangent, Tichy, Intermountain or others) and a frangible disc vent from Owl Mountain.

Photo by yours truly

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordy Wednesday - New Haven 0-8-0 3430 at Hartford

This photo has always been a favorite of mine for a few reasons. Given my affection for freight cars, the nice string of interesting cars is an immediate draw for me. However, as compelling for me is the location. I grew up in the Hartford area so I have always had an attraction to its railroad-related history. Of particular interest has always been the large Morgan Street freight house and the tracks near it. This train is making its way from Hartford towards its crossing of the Connecticut River and its duties in East Hartford. I will post an exceptional photo of the Morgan Street freight house and yard in a future installment. That photo alone should provide all the motivation one needs to replicate it as a switching layout. The photo is reproduced below with numbered callouts to aid in identification of the subjects. Interestingly, the locomotive and every identifiable piece of rolling stock with the exception of the MILW gon, P&LE box car and the flat car was or is available in HO scale (references noted in parentheses) 

1 — New Haven Y-3 0-8-0 — The New Haven had 10 USRA versions of the 0-8-0 followed by an additional 25 copies purchased after the war, nos. 3400-3434. (W&R brass or Proto 2000)

2 — Chicago and North Western Emergency box car with Youngstown doors and Viking roof (Sunshine Models or Intermountain)

3 — Milwaukee Road composite gondola; class not known

4 — Pittsburgh & Lake Erie  ‘late’ tall New York Central USRA-design steel box car

5 — Santa Fe Bx-38 Emergency box car (Sunshine Models or Intermountain)

6 — Delaware Lackawanna & Western rebuilt steel automobile car (Yarmouth Model Works)

7 — Seaboard Air Line G7 composite gondola (Sunshine Models)

8 — Southern Railway 1937 AAR box car (IMWX, Red Caboose or Intermountain)

9 — unidentified flat car with tractor load

10 — Canadian Pacific Fowler box car (Westerfield)

11 — New York Central USRA-design steel box car (Westerfield or Broadway Limited)

12 — American Refrigerator Transit wood refrigerator car (Sunshine Models)

Wordy Wednesday - Santa Fe Refrigerator Despatch ARA-inspired refrigerator car SFRD 24132

These two photos were finds on ebay several years ago. They were undoubtedly recorded to document the shifting of the lumber load on the adjacent flat car, either by a curious photographer or for actual railroad purposes.

The Santa Fe purchasd large quantities of ARA-inspired refrigerator cars (based upon the ARA design for the double sheathed wood box car, which the Santa Fe ordered in classes Bx-8, -9, and -10.) The first group was assigned to class RR-5, 900 cars built in 1927 by American Car & Foundry and Pullman Car & Manufacturing, car nos. 23451-24350 (there were 100 nearly identical cars with divided ice baskets in class RR-6, nos. 24351-24450). SFRD purchased an additional 1,900 similar cars between 1928 and 1931, classes RR-7, -8, -9, and -11, nos. 24451-26350. 

In the period immediately prior to the US involvement in World War Two, many of the cars received improvements, including AB schedule air brakes and new Murphy rectangular panel roofs. Not all cars received these upgrades. Note that SFRD 24132 shown here still had a staff-type hand brake to go with its AB brakes and new Murphy panel roof.

Most of these cars were rebuilt into all-steel cars between 1950-1953, classes RR-49, -50, -51, and -53, but that is a different story...

References: Santa Fe Railway Rolling Stock Reference Series -- Volume Two, Refrigerator Cars, Ice Bunker Cars 1884-1979, Jordan, Hendrickson, Moore, and Hale

Wordy Wednesday - Milwaukee Welded AAR Hopper MILW 94090

The Milwaukee Road rostered 2,000 unusual hoppers built between 1937 and 1944 in the company shops, nos. 94000-95999. They closely followed the AAR design, but featured welded construction. In addition, the spacing of the "stakes" at the top of the side differed from the AAR standard. The cars were equipped with Equipco (shown here) or Universal power hand brakes, Enterprise door locks, and Barber S-1 (shown here) or S-2 trucks with spring planks. Photo Collection of J. Michael Gruber

Wordy Wednesday - Erie 76012

San Diego, California, December 4, 1954, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo

The ARA design of 1923 for double sheathed box cars (double sheathed = steel outer sheathing + wood interior lining) was modified through the 1920s, culminating in the iterations built for the Van Sweringen roads Erie, Chesapeake & Ohio, and Pere Marquette (see Wordy Wednesday from September 26, 2018). The Erie purchased a “predecessor” group in 1928. In 1930, the roads collectively added 3,000 cars — 1,500 to PM, 1,000 to C&O, and 500 to Erie (nos. 75500-75999).

In mid-1930, the Erie added an additional 500 cars, nos. 76000-76499, that followed the Van Sweringen iteration of the design, but with an inside height of 9’3”, an increase of 7” over the earlier cars. Erie 76012 was one of these cars, built by American Car & Foundry’s Berwick, Pennsylvania plant. The cars were delivered with Buckeye ends, Climax radial roofs, Youngstown doors with Camel no. 50 rollers, and KC air schedule brakes

By the time of this photo, the car had received a few modifications. It had been upgraded with AB schedule brakes as well as an Ajax power hand brake. In addition the roof was replaced with a Murphy diagonal panel roof with steel grid running board that appears to be an Apex Tri-Lok. Finally, the side sheathing had been repaired with patches along the side sill.

Wordy Wednesday - Loading Stacked Steel Plate

I chose this photo for today’s Wordy Wednesday post because I feel it illustrates something worth replicating in model form. Note the small steels plates in the two gondolas closest to the left edge of the photo. The plates are stacked at both ends of the cars. They are also laid on top of boards and separated by boards, as well. The center portion of the gons are “empty”. This is highly realistic and would be easy to replicate using sheet styrene cut into appropriate sizes and stacked and bundled, as shown. I will do a follow-up post in the near future illustrating how I replicate this.

The near gon is a Nickel Plate Greenville-design 52’6” car offered in HO in styrene by Life-Like Proto 2000 and previously in resin by Sunshine. The next car is a P&LE 70-ton USRA-design car. These are available in resin from Westerfield and in styrene from Walthers in a far simpler (less detailed) form. Protocraft has imported O scale brass models of Greenville-design 52’6” gondolas.

The image was recorded looking east at the Nickel Plate’s E 75th Street Yard in Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1949. The photographer is noted as “Burger” and the photo is from the Jay Williams/Big Four Graphics collection

Wordy Wednesday

CP 241170, San Diego, California, October 9, 1954, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo

This installment of Wordy Wednesday is another of the fine photos by Col. Chet McCoid recorded in San Diego. The Canadian Pacific had 7,500 of these distinctive box cars, built in 1929-1930. They had a unique combination of characteristics that made them stand out in any consist, including five-foot door openings, an inside height of only 8'6", and the first known use of L (angle) side sills with tabbed, channel section supports at the body bolsters and under the door openings. They were also (somewhat) more "stylish" for their use of the Murphy radial roof and Dalman two-level trucks (on some cars, including the one shown above).

HO scale modelers are fortunate to have fine resin versions of these cars, originally marketed under the Yankee Clipper name and subsequently absorbed into the Funaro & Camerlengo line. The model shown here is one I built about a decade ago (or more, give or take) and featured in the "Essential Freight Cars" series in Railroad Model Craftsman.

P.S. read this article about the fates, both good and bad, of several stations.

Wordy Wednesday - Pere Marquette 83332

San Diego, California, November 22, 1954, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo Collection

A couple Wednesdays ago, I posted an image and promised that I would endeavor to become a more regular Wednesday poster with some of my favorite images. Many of my peers post "Wordless Wednesday" content. I am going to take that idea, but go in a slightly different direction by providing some background text, as well, creating "Wordy Wednesday" posts. They won't be terribly wordy, but in contrast to the wordless posts of others, they will be wordy. Hence, the modifier "wordy".

About the photo... this is the first of what will be many images from Col. Chet McCoid during his wanderings in San Diego. Many of his photos from there were recorded when the light was low and the subjects rendered relatively low contrast and saturated, perfect for highlighting subtleties such as surface details and weathering. Pere Marquette 83332 was built in 1930 by Standard Steel Car Company as part of a group of 1,500 cars, nos. 82000-83499. The cars followed the "Modified" ARA design (based upon 1923 ARA and closely related X29 designs), but with the crossbearers located under the door posts in what would become the "standard" location. This design was ordered by other Van Sweringen roads C&O and Erie, as well. The PM versions used the Hutchins Dry Lading roof, a departure from the cars on their cousins' lines.

Yankee Clipper offered HO scale resin kits of these cars many years ago. They are currently unavailable in the Funaro & Camerlengo line. I am fortunate to have one in my unbuilt kit inventory that will become one of my two "signature" PM cars when I build it. The other is one of the single sheathed automobile cars.

For more about these Pere Marquette prototype box cars, see "Pere Marquette 1930 Steel Box Car" by Jeffrey Koeller in Mainline Modeler, May 2001.